2. The Lakers have more first-round picks than you realize
We posted an entire article dedicated to this topic as it is assumed by most fans that the Lakers do not have many picks in the future. Los Angeles can’t trade a first-round pick until the 2027 season but that does not mean that they are without a pick in the next four drafts.
In fact, as it stands right now, the Lakers have three first-round picks in the next four years that they can utilize to build the roster up with youth. So why can’t they trade until the 2027 season?
The 2023 first-round pick is a pick swap with the Pelicans. So while New Orleans will get the better of the two picks, the Lakers will still have a pick. They cannot trade it right now since it is a swap.
Then New Orleans has the right to a first-round pick in either 2024 or 2025. If they want the pick in 2024 then the Lakers get their 2025 pick. If New Orleans passes on the 2024 pick, they will get the 2025 pick regardless of where it lines up.
Because of this, the Lakers cannot trade any picks from 2024-26. First, they do not know which pick the Pelicans will yet take. Second, because of the Steipen Rule, they cannot trade consecutive first-round picks in 2026 because the Pelicans have the right to take the 2025 pick.
All you need to know is that the Lakers will get the worse pick swap in 23, will get an unprotected first in either 24 or 25 (depending on the Pelicans’ decision), and after that own all of their own picks.